2015 Environmental Program Grants

Grants Paid During 2015 Including Grants Approved in Prior Years

Center for Watershed Protection $10,000Ellicott City, MD
To support the “Safe Waters, Healthy Waters” initiative to give communities the information and tools they need to dramatically reduce water pollution from sewage, particularly addressing the 50-70% of bacteria in streams and rivers from dry weather sewage discharge.
(Final payment of a $65,000 grant)

Dogwood Alliance $30,000
Asheville, NCOne-time grant to launch a campaign to elevate as a national conservation priority the protection of America’s wetland forests, a largely unrecognized and underappreciated landscape type that plays numerous important environmental roles and spreads over nine states. The campaign includes an effort to secure $10 million in corporate conservation funding for forested wetland protection.
(First payment of a $75,000 grant)

GreenFaith $15,000Highland Park, NY
To support the Energy Stewardship Initiative of the Seminary Environmental Certification Program. Through the initiative, theological seminaries nationally will implement energy efficiency and conservation measures and equip their students to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation’s 370,000 religious facilities and also of those Americans who regularly attend religious services.(Final payment of a $60,000 grant)

Institute for Local Self-Reliance $10,000Washington, DC
To launch and nationally replicate the Advanced and Master Composter train-the-trainer component of the “Composting for Community” project.(Final payment of a $60,000 grant)

New England Forestry Foundation $40,000
Littleton, MAOne-time grant to refine, rollout, replicate, and promote a new planned giving strategy, a model Pooled Income fund for forestland, as an innovative vehicle to accelerate the pace of land protection and to promote exemplary forest management practices.
(First payment of a $70,000 grant)

Rocky Mountain Institute $40,000
Boulder, COOne-time grant to support their Fleet Electrification Project aimed at increasing the use of electric vehicles by fleets of light-duty business vehicles (e.g. taxis, Uber, Lyft, etc.) This project seeks to over come the three primary obstacles to fleet electrification: sticker-shock, range anxiety and charging infrastructure worries, and financing by piloting solutions in Austin and Denver.
(First payment of a $70,000 grant)

Solstice Initiative $40,000
Somerville, MASeed funding to support a new non-profit organization dedicated to advancing community solar (the solar energy version of a CSA-Community Supported Agriculture) to make solar available to the 80 percent of Americans who are currently locked out of it because they rent and/or live in buildings unsuitable for solar installations. Their model will be refined and expanded in Massachusetts and then brought to other states.
(First payment of a $90,000 grant)

Trust for Public Land $5,000New York, NY
To support the “Green Infrastructure Program for US Cities” to advance the use of green infrastructure projects in US cities as the preferred way to address excess runoff which triggers the discharge of raw sewage and storm water into rivers, harbors and coast areas.(Final payment of a $55,000 grant)

Annual Report

Update

The Foundation annually alternates its new grantmaking between its Mental Health, AIDS and Environmental program areas. In 2019, the Foundation will be making new grants in the Environmental program area. Grants will be made at the Fall meeting. Initial letters of inquiry must be received before September 1, 2019. more....